The most beautiful religious buildings China

This church is the most famous site of Macau. Its monumental facade and staircase are everything that remains of the'largest Christian monument in Asia '. Between 1602 and 1637, Jesuits assisted by Japanese Christians, fleeing from Nagasaki persecutions, built the building on one of the seven hills of Macao. This collegial church was used as an oratory at Collège Saint-Paul in 1594. They were missionaries. Consecrated in 1603, the building was very famous for its beauty, and received lavish donations from the largest kings of Europe. Matteo Ricci and many missionaries studied Chinese before leaving China offering their services to the Ming court as astrologers and mathematicians. In 1835, a fire killed the church only the monumental facade and staircase. The site was re-launched in 1991. The facade is surmounted by the Jerusalem cross. The lower niches houses bronze statues (flows to Macao in a barrel foundry). The Virgin Mary is framed of angels and flowers, the représentant representing China, and chrysanthème him in Japan. Behind the facade, you can go to the empty space that was previously the church (the location of the pillars is marked on the ground). At the bottom of the crypt, in a magnificent and clean place, the relics of the martyrs of Japan and Vietnam are preserved.

This monastery is, especially for the Chinese, the first tourist attraction of Sha Tin. Built on a hill, this complex of the 1950 s consists of four buildings dedicated to various Buddhist deities. The main hall brings together 13,000 Buddhas, located in niches. The top is reached by a staircase of 431 steps.

Built by the Hakka at the beginning of the th century on a granite promontory dominated by the bay, this temple dedicated to the goddess of the Sea Tin Hau now overlooks the tram line. Up to 24 temples are devoted to Tin Hau across the territory.

Located about 7 kilometers southwest of the town of Pingyao stands a magnificent but often forgotten, small Buddhist temple. This temple says both forests (literal translation of its name) date from the Wei dynasty of the north (more specifically from the life of the century), but the current buildings were built under Ming and Qing. Apart from this rather common architecture in the region, we will come above all here for the interior of the temple. In fact, it presents nearly 2,000 clay statues of different sizes, stained with vivid colors, dating from the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing (a period between xiie and the nineteenth century): fabulous!

Built under the Northern song dynasty (960-1127), the temple of the god of the city was restored and enlarged under the Ming and then the Qing. Today it consists of four courses whose architecture and ornaments illustrate the blend of taoist, Buddhist and Confucian influences. The first large building serves as theatre stage during the temple celebration, which takes place every year at the end of May. The six big boxes on the stage actually serve as a sounding fund to amplify the voices of the players: a simple but efficient acoustic system, probably one of the oldest that exists. On both sides of the scene, the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower give access to the second court, dominated by the main prayer room. 16 murals include mythical or historical events.

The pavilion of the last court houses a statue of clay representing the God of the city, as well as 48 statues with custom faces and expressions, embodying local officials in the service of God.

Built in 1921, this large religious center on the hill is still active, as evidenced by the crowd of pilgrims - and tourists - at weekends. The site, composed of several chapels at the walls of the decor, flower classes, is simply sublime. You can do it for a vegetarian lunch.

The Lamasery Monastery is the largest Tibetan monastery in Yunnan. It is located about 5 km from Head centre, in the middle of the barley fields and mountains. If the price of the ticket is quite exorbitant, the place is beautiful and is worth a detour. During our passage, the main building was undergoing renovation. Already rebuilt for the first time in 1982, the structure was not robust enough and threatened to collapse. Around 500 monks occupy the scene today. During your visit, you will be prompted to cross several. They are very open, and it is easy to engage in conversation with them. Covered with sumptuous thangkas, the prayer room is impressive. The kitchen is visited, but it is accessible for men only… After visiting the building, we advise you to walk around the monastery. The sites are peaceful and the life of the village at the foot of the monastery seems to follow its ancestral course.

This "mountain temple" (as indicated by the characters above the door) built in 2000 reflects religious architecture under the Tang Dynasty (th-century). Buddhism was at its peak in China. The building is entirely wooden. The épis of its fin-shaped roof symbolize the dragon in the water and protect the potential fire site. The first Buddha statue is accompanied by one of its protectors, Vanda, which controls wind, rain, storm and light. In the second court, the statue on the right represents the head of medicine, the one on the left represents the god of Compassion, one of the most révérées deities by the Chinese. Note the absence of incense sticks in the main chapel housing Buddha and his disciples. The faithful, when entering the temple, must not be decentralized by material objects. This temple, as its name indicates, houses Buddhist bonzesses.

If there was only one reason to come to Zhangye, here she is. This complex - 23,000 m ² - of sumptuous temples and immense historical value (Emperor Kubilay, the first of the Yuan dynasty, would have been born), contains in its largest building a real jewel, a 34.5-meter long Buddha, which would be the longest in the world (or at least China). Built in 1098, its wooden structure, covered with a kind of plaster, has crossed the ages, no less than ten centuries in total! Besides, it's the same Buddha that Marco Polo would have seen and that he tells in his book about the World's Imagination. During the Cultural Revolution, red guards did not have the courage to deteriorate it, but they were still digging a tunnel, as to prove that Buddha sounded hollow. These minor damage was repaired afterwards and the small holes you see on the side of the huge statue are aeration. The rest of the complex presents interesting collections related to the history of the silk road and the spread of Buddhism in China.

An unavoidable visit.

The church built in 1927 reflects the colonial past of the city. They were former French missionaries who erected the building.

This Taoist temple, one of the oldest in the island, is dedicated to two deities: Man, God of literature, and Mo, God of war better known as Guanyu. The latter is also the protector of restaurants, loan shops, the police… and Triades. Both gods were venerated by students and officials before their exams during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Let yourself be impregnated by the thick smoke flowing from the incense waves, some of which are so large that they burn for four weeks. We love the atmosphere that comes out of the place. Note, however, that there are several Man Mo temples in Hong Kong and that this one is the most famous (and most popular) of them.

Built in 1266, it is the oldest temple in Hong Kong territory. On the right, a trail leads to a rock, placed under glass to protect it, with an inscription of 108 Chinese characters engraved in 1274 to mark the visit of an official.

A little further than the Lotus Flower, built on a platform at mid-height of the hill, it is the largest structure of Longmen, it represents Buddhist art at its peak. Wooden structures, including the roof, no longer exist today, exposing the wind and rain statues even though the authorities put forward the roofs on the edge of the cliff. Built in 672, the temple was commissioned by Empress Wu Zetian to increase his aura. She would have invested the budget for a year of beauty products to build this place. The Losana Buddha, in the centre, with its 17,14 m height, is the largest statue of Longmen: His head is 4 m long and his ears 1,90 m. Despite its enormous proportions, sweetness and inner beauty come from, producing a sense of kindness and rare humanity in the Buddhist style. The artist would have made a Buddha with a feminine delicacy in homage to Empress Wu Zetian. On each side of the Buddha Losana, two disciples, two bodhisattvas, two heavenly kings, two warriors and two apsaras, this estate formed in some way a replica of the Imperial courtyard of the Tang.

On the other bank, nestled along the slopes of the East Hill, there are some interesting structures: the Temple of the Reading of Buddhist Scriptures (Kanjing), which dates from the end of the th and early th centuries, the great cave of the Fifteen Thousand Buddhas (Dawanwu Dong), built at the same time as the temple of Adoration of ancestors.

This temple, founded in the th century, is located minutes walk west of the Tambour tower, next to the Hotel Xijing. There is a carved wooden portico, surmounted by Chinese characters in red. Two courses must be crossed before accessing the sanctuary. The original temple was built in 1376 and completely renovated in 1852. It is one of the best preserved Ming and Qing buildings in the province.

A visit that is worth a visit. Set in a traditional village, the 500-year-old temple was founded by the Tang family. Nowadays, every member of the village still bears the same name. It is one of the most important clans in the New Territories. There are tablets dedicated to every ancestor, including that of Wong Kuwu, a princess of the Song Dynasty fleeing Mongolian troops in the th century. One of Tang's ancestors passed the mandarinal exam and was designated as an official at the Imperial Court. The site still hosts meetings (one pays tribute to the ancestors) according to Confucian morality. Once only men were accepted on the premises.

A beautiful monastery founded in the th century by taoist monks.

These three temples are scattered on the island (next to Sai Van Bridge, behind the university and village square) and witness the daily religious activity of the island's inhabitants.